Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) released Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Service Pack 2 (SP2) today - a midcycle free update that is designed to improve speed, stability and compatibility. SP2 delivers highly requested features throughout the suite as well as a new tool, Document Connection for Mac, that helps improve access and browsing to documents on SharePoint Products and Technologies and Microsoft Office Live Workspace.

Highlights of the release include the following:

-Two new highly requested features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2008 for Mac:-Custom Path Animation adds the ability to author motion-path animations. Users previously could only play back motion paths.-Default Theme lets users define their default theme, including fonts, color scheme and slide layouts.-Increased speed in Microsoft Word 2008 for Mac (launch and scroll times) as well as Microsoft Excel 2008 for Mac with features such as calculation performance.

Many MacBU service packs are typically limited to feature updates, but with Office 2008 SP2, Microsoft is releasing significant new capabilities that extend the collaboration and file-sharing abilities of Microsoft Office users:

-Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Document Connection enables a more seamless experience for Office 2008 users to save and open documents to Microsoft Office Live Workspace from Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In addition, the Microsoft Office Live Workspace today announced expanded Mac browser support to include Safari 4 along with existing support for Firefox 2.0 (required for Mac OS X 10.2.x or later).

-SharePoint. Document Connection also improves the SharePoint experience for Mac users, allowing for easier collaboration within a SharePoint environment by simplifying how users can browse, access and manage files online and offline.